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Cisco Duo

Cisco Duo

Overview

What is Cisco Duo?

Cisco Duo is a two-factor authentication system (2FA), acquired by Cisco in October 2018. It provides single sign-on (SSO) and endpoint visibility, as well as access controls and policy controlled adaptive authentication.

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Recent Reviews

Cisco Duo 2FA

8 out of 10
February 09, 2024
Incentivized
For two factor authentication, it provides an easy way for users to authenticate. It can be used per app on the phones so it is also easy …
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We love Cisco Duo!

10 out of 10
February 07, 2024
Incentivized
We used Cisco duo for 3 years now, and we are very satisfied with this product. Our organization faced brute force attacks and we really …
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Great App

10 out of 10
February 06, 2024
Incentivized
We use it daily for our work log ins, especially for the first time log in. For VPN we need to use it each time. Sometimes, I have a …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Video Reviews

4 videos

Cisco Review - Secure Access Helps Meet Company Cyber Security Requirements
01:42
Cisco Secure Access Review: Allows Company Peace of Mind With Protection
01:51
Cisco Secure Access by Duo Review: Used As A Simple Tool To Provide Safe Access to Accounts
02:32
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Pricing

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Duo Essentials

$3

Cloud
per month per user

Duo Advantage

$6

Cloud
per month per user

Duo Premier

$9

Cloud
per month per user

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://duo.com/pricing?utm_source=trus…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Starting price (does not include set up fee)

  • $3 per month per user
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Product Details

What is Cisco Duo?

Cisco Duo is a solution to protect applications by using a second source of validation, like a phone or token, to verify user identity before granting access. Cisco Duo is engineered to provide a simple, streamlined login experience for every user and application, and as a cloud-based solution, it integrates with existing technology


Editions

Duo Essentials
A full-featured access management solution that includes strong Multi-factor Authentication (MFA), Passwordless, Single Sign-On (SSO) and Trusted Endpoints verification for every organization. It serves as a cloud-based two-factor authentication and multi-factor authentication solution that can be used to secure access to unlimited applications at no additional cost to ensure security coverage as the organization’s application inventory grows.

Duo Essentials Includes:
  • MFA (Flexible options including FIDO2 and Verified Duo Push)
  • Single Sign-On
  • Passwordless Authentication (Using FIDO2 or Duo Mobile)
  • Trusted Endpoints Verification
  • Device Visibility
  • Authorized Networks
  • Unlimited Application Integrations
  • User Group Policies


Duo Advantage
Added security, with adaptive and risk-based authentication policies, device health checks and machine learning-driven attack detection. Duo Advantage provides organizations with stronger, multi-layered defenses with capabilities designed to improve security for organizations and enables higher productivity for administrators and end-users.

Duo Advantage builds upon the Duo Essentials suite capabilities and adds:
  • Risk-Based Authentication
  • Device Health Checks
  • Adaptive Access Policies
  • Machine-Learning driven Threat Detection
  • Full-Featured Dashboards with Comprehensive Reporting


Duo Premier
A complete access management suite with VPN-less remote access. Duo Premier expands on Duo’s rigid security access solutions to cover private resources and private applications. Duo Premier gives access to all of the capabilities provided by Duo Essentials and Duo Advantage plus VPN-less remote access with the Duo Network Gateway.

Duo Premier protects organization with all of Cisco Duo's offerings, including:

  • Multi-factor authentication (MFA) with Duo Verified Push and FIDO2 support
  • Single Sign-On
  • Trusted Endpoints Verification
  • Passwordless Authentication
  • Device Visibility
  • Unlimited Application integrations
  • Risk-Based Authentication
  • Device Health Checks
  • Adaptive Access Policies
  • Machine-Learning Driven Threat Detection
  • Full-Featured Dashboards and Comprehensive Reporting
  • VPN-less Secure Remote Access
  • Endpoint Protection Check



Cisco Duo Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Cisco Duo is a two-factor authentication system (2FA), acquired by Cisco in October 2018. It provides single sign-on (SSO) and endpoint visibility, as well as access controls and policy controlled adaptive authentication.

Cisco Duo starts at $3.

Google Authenticator, WatchGuard AuthPoint, and The Okta Identity Cloud are common alternatives for Cisco Duo.

Reviewers rate Availability highest, with a score of 9.9.

The most common users of Cisco Duo are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(303)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-25 of 136)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Cisco Duo in our organization as an authentication, authorization and MFA source for our Cisco AnyConnect VPN for remote users. Cisco Duo ensures that users authenticate using MFA and in a secure manner. We love Cisco Duo so much that we're looking at adding Cisco Duo as an authentication source for other applications.
  • Authentication
  • Security
  • Authorization
  • LDAP integration
  • Direct integration rather than proxy
Cisco Duo is well suited for application authentication. We use Cisco Duo primarily as an authentication proxy for our Cisco AnyConnect VPN source. Users will input their AD credentials. This is bundled and securely sent to the Cisco Duo proxies. Cisco Duo has a backend LDAP integration that performs the authentication, then prompts the user for MFA. After Cisco Duo handles all of this, it prompts the ASA for a successful authentication.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Cisco Duo for a variety of security needs. We first started using it to securely connect our remote users to our Citrix infrastructure but have slowly started to integrate it into more facets of our environment, from remote desktop sessions to network device security. We have found that it is very easy to break free of our old solution (RSA SecureID and hard tokens) and into this. Cisco Duo also gives us flexibility with how 2FA is set up, whether it be an app push, SMS or telephone call, we can provide a variety of options to our end users. It's a great security option to add into an environment and easy to do so, with great support and online documentation.
  • Variety of options for 2FA
  • Easy to integrate
  • Superb online support
  • Using the feature of Cisco Duo to flag an outdated phone OS, the messaging to our end users is sometimes confusing.
The integration of Cisco Duo into our environment was easy to setup and expand as we became more comfortable with the various features. It works well with Citrix Netscaler, all of our Cisco network devices and server security; plus using LDAP integration makes it easy to support our users. End users are sometimes confused when they are flagged with outdated phone OS messages.
Scott Brinker, CISM | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Cisco Duo to provide us an enterprise solution for MFA. It is a great product and reliable and meets our needs from a security, insurance and best practice perspective.
  • MFA
  • Offers multiple options for 2 factors
  • Reliable service
  • Sometimes it doesn't work and I have to clear browser cache or restart computer
  • Does not offer an option for email code
Great for a second factor authentication service and covers all of our application needs.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Cisco Duo provides the organization added security for authenticating to corporate infrastructure as well as SaaS and cloud-based applications. Cisco Duo is also used as a form of employee identity verification adopted by our support team. From a end user experience standpoint, Cisco Duo provides a flexible 2FA experience by supporting push notifications, pass codes, among others.
  • Cisco Duo is extremely user friendly. No complaints whatsoever from employee community.
  • Cisco Duo provides complete visibility into employee mobile devices.
  • Cisco Duo provides necessary API endpoints to automate tasks.
  • Logs can be easily exported and ingested to SIEM.
  • Cisco Duo's geolocation can sometimes be off likely due to third party feeds. Improving the accuracy of endpoint or auth device geolocation would greatly improve security monitoring.
  • Better integration with Microsoft Azure. This is likely more of a Microsoft related issue but Microsoft Azure and Cisco Duo isn't seamless.
Like any MFA solution, Cisco Duo works in many environments covering on premise and cloud based infrastructure. Integrates very well with pretty much everything like our firewall/VPN, SaaS applications, PAM, self service password management portal, among others. I really don't see where the product is less appropriate. Everywhere we want multi factor authentication, Cisco Duo seems to integrate pretty well with very little effort.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Cisco Duo for MFA of Active Directory and other software/services that are used within the company. It allows us to require MFA for our servers, endpoints, and a variety of other platforms that we deem necessary to have MFA.
  • Provides a great user experience for MFA on Endpoints.
  • Offers multiple options for completing the MFA process from mobile apps to Yubikeys.
  • Allows for granular configuration based on each companies needs.
  • Documentation is oftentimes missing key information for proper implementation. This is circumvented by reading third-party guides or contacting support for additional details.
  • They do not push Fail-Closed as much as I think they should. Fail-Open is fairly trivial to bypass and it should be made known to the customer during setup how much this will affect overall security.
  • More vendor integration is something that is always craved by administrators. There are so many third-parties to integrate with.
Cisco Duo is extremely well-suited for someone wanting to add MFA to an on-premise Active Directory environment. Some of the other vendors in this space do provide this feature, but they do not natively support it. One of the top competitors in this space requires signing up with another third-party service to make this integration possible. Less moving parts for something as crucial as this is a huge benefit and having only one vendor to point fingers at makes troubleshooting much simpler.
Jared Miller | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
Duo Security acts as the MFA piece of our security offering to our clients. As a third-party authentication platform and vendor, Duo is capable of catering to a far broader audience in terms of what is protected, and how. We leverage Duo internally and across all clients who have MFA needs.
  • Broad integration library. Many common platforms have direct integrations
  • Conversely, Duo has the ability to configure an internal authentication server, as well as more recently offering a a hosted option to capture those vendors and platforms that do not directly integrate.
  • Duo has fantastic and interactive support. Willing to help you engineer solutions simply as a part of your partnership with them.
  • Additional user syncing authority options would be great. Currently supporting OpenLDAP, Microsoft AD, and Azure AD. Being able to sync from GSuite or the like would be nice.
  • UNQUALIFIED -- I am unaware of any kind of platform that allows external communication built-in. They do have API which allows other platforms to more proactively report on data but so far as I've seen reporting is done in the dashboard and there aren't "alerts" that can be sent out to admins to my knowledge.
I would say the only situation in which Duo would not be most optimal would be in cases where the client has very simple needs that can be totally covered by Microsoft and Azure applications, etc. If you are able to live entirely inside of Microsoft's sphere then the native MFA options may make more sense from a configuration/less vendor spread perspective. But Duo integrates VERY well with Microsoft and assuming you need to cover some other website/vendor, Duo quickly becomes the better option from then on out. Even then, if you are a managed service provider, Duo gives you a single platform to manage from and standardize on which eliminates configuration differences on your end.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We used Cisco Secure Access by Duo as our method for MFA (multi-factor authentication) for multiple applications (remote desktop, Cisco VPN, OneLogin, Darktrace, etc.).
  • Active directory sync
  • Ease of use for users and admins
  • Integration with other applications
  • Support other vendor hardware security tokens
  • More price competitive
You will need to use a Cisco Secure Access by Duo hardware token since it doesn't support 3rd party. As for pricing, some vendors like Microsoft have their own, so it might come with the license you already own. If you want easy management and use, this solution is straightforward.
February 12, 2024

Cisco Duo

Peter Plocher | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
Increasing security with two factor authentication and removing the use of private authenticators (Google Authenticator) from users for websites or applications where authentication with 2 factors is enforced. In combination and with integration into our password Management Tool we were able to reduce the need of assistance from IT staff in this process.
  • Easy to handle phone app
  • Usable on Apple Watch
  • Fair pricing model on what is my use case
  • More native integration for well-known services like PayPal, this is better within Google or MS Authenticator
Cisco Duo is well-suited in handling 2 factor authentication for online services, critical business accounts in the Internet like Amazon, Social Media and Cloud Applications which must not be compromised at any time. It also helps to protect our internal apps from unauthorised access.
February 09, 2024

Cisco Duo 2FA

Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
For two factor authentication, it provides an easy way for users to authenticate. It can be used per app on the phones so it is also easy to deploy to the users.
  • Usability
  • Easy to use
  • 2fa
  • Updates
It can be used good for 2fa
February 07, 2024

We love Cisco Duo!

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We used Cisco duo for 3 years now, and we are very satisfied with this product. Our organization faced brute force attacks and we really needed a security product to solve that problem. We did a internet search and we found about about Cisco Duo. It was really simple to install it, but working with the users and educate them in how to use it was not that easy. Now we are set, everyone is already used to this product and we are eager to renew our license.
  • Security
  • Ease of instalation
  • Demanding from our users
  • Local support team in Romania
  • Name - maybe something catchy
The scenario where Cisco Duo is more suited is when you have services exposed in the internet, and you want to authenticate the users.
February 07, 2024

Cisco Duo Review

Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
use as authenticator
  • enhancing security by requiring users to authenticate using multiple factors
  • seamless integration with a wide range of applications
  • help protect against phishing attacks
  • self-service options for end-users
with regards to security no issue, protects from phishing and easy to use
February 06, 2024

I love Cisco Duo

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
We use it as an MFA tool.
  • It's got a very friendly UI
  • Fast (just 2 clicks) authentication process
  • Nothing to ask more from MFA functionality perspective
For example, in my organization we use PaloAlto firewalls with GlobalProtect clients. Duo MFA was easily integrated with PA and GlobalProtect to provide remote VPN access for 300 employees
February 06, 2024

Great App

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use it daily for our work log ins, especially for the first time log in. For VPN we need to use it each time. Sometimes, I have a problem that there is a slight bug when I can't press the confirm button or approve button. Then I need to repeat the whole process and do it again.
  • It's a simple app
  • User friendly app
  • Provides good security
  • On iPhone you need to repeat sometimes the whole process
It is well suited for everyone. I think it's a must have app for everyone.
February 06, 2024

Cisco Duo integration

Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Just implementing. Unify the identity provider at each level.
  • MFA
  • Identity management
  • Secure the entire organization
  • Provide feedback of MFA utilization in O365 solution, compliance center.
  • Switch login at the apps sessions ID-s under SSO identity login.
Great MFA solution. A better integration with Microsoft AD and M365.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Duo is being used for Multi Factor Authentication (MFA). Initially just for our VPN connection, to ensure all remote workers had MFA (for PCI DSS compliance), however the tool is so easy from a user point of view, when we had to find a solution for applying Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) to Outlook Web Access (OWA) it was our first choice. Configuring in Microsoft Exchange was very simple. General user support, setting up new devices, migrating users (who have a new phone) is painless. It also provides options, so if push notifications don't work, or just because a users has a preference, you can receive phone call authentication - great feature which means you can have a landline as a backup. It also can authenticate by traditional Time based One time password (TOTP). Flexible, robust, user friendly, easy to support.
  • supports multiple methods of authentication
  • simple to support
  • user friendly
  • easy integration
  • easier to speak to support (if needed)
Duo Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) is easy to implement, low management / support overhead. It's well suited to providing Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) on a number of core infrastructure solutions (for example Citrix Netscaler VPN) and websites. Configuring in Microsoft Exchange was very simple, good documentation is provided on DUO support website. Flexible, robust, user friendly, easy to support.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Cisco Duo is a tool used for our customers that is market-leading in helping employees achieve daily security goals. It’s a great user-friendly tool that integrates well with other technologies to help provide a secure platform.
  • Simplified
  • Easy
  • User friendly
  • Innovation
Cisco Duo is very user-friendly, but it can be hard to justify the cost when customers want to use their E3/5 Microsoft license.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Duo Security is a simple low friction way to solve the problem of compromised accounts. At our organization, we had dozens and dozens of these. Users would fall for a phish and surrender their passwords. The hackers would then have access to their accounts to use them for their own purposes. Duo solved that problem. Even if the users gave away their passwords, the 2fa solution prevented hackers from accessing their accounts. It is amazing how painless it has been to implement it. So much so that we're moving toward rolling it out for students as well.
  • Low Friction.
  • Easy to use.
  • Constantly adding value at the same subscription tier.
  • The Directory Sync functionality doesn't have the flexibility we'd like.
Anyone dealing with the security of user accounts can benefit from Duo. They have a massive library of existing applications (RDP/SSH/LDAP/VPN/etc) that can integrate, and an easy way to include it in custom web applications. It supports a wide variety of second-factor options. It is so easy compared to every other alternative that people are definitely starting to copy it.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
We utilize Cisco Secure Access by Duo to protect our windows logins, remote access logins, administrative logins, Remote Desktop logins, and VPN logins for ourselves and our clients. Many of our clients are Automotive Dealerships, and Cisco Secure Access by Duo allows us to protect almost all of our important logins for ourselves and our clients and gives us the ability to satisfy the requirements of the new Federal Safeguard regulations.
  • Windows Active Directory Integration
  • Easy to install app on cell phone with easy usage
  • Alternate access via SMS text or phone call
  • Easy replacement for Google Authenticator
  • Some clients feel that the cost is a little high
  • Our margin on this product isn't tremendous
  • I wish Connectwise allowed us to use this for our MSP products
For our clients, it has been a lifesaver allowing us to implement MFA for their user logins, VPN access, and RDP logins. It has kept unauthorized users out of their systems. I love the demo reseller portion that allows us to utilize the product for free and test it before rolling it out, and we continue to use it for free! Cisco Secure Access by Duo understands that the more we utilize it, the better we can use it with our clients.
January 29, 2024

Amazing security product

Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Duo 2FA has been the best feature that we've implemented throughout the company. We can secure connections easily and with Duo Push as well as manage end-user access very easily. Duo Mobile provides 2nd Form Factor authentication in a variety of ways so it can be very flexible. Using an app on the phone, you can receive push notifications, you can receive a call from the system, or you can receive a text. Integration with the various systems was straightforward and simple for the most part. Knowing that a bad actor now has to not only steal credentials but obtain the user's mobile device information gives me a sense that we've done all we can realistically do. User enrollment and management is a breeze. And the best news, it's affordable protection.
  • Duo Mobile helps us ensure the security of remote access to our network.
  • Mostly 2FA for a multitude of protected systems. We have begun looking into expanding the MDM features for better administration of BYOD cellular devices.
  • We were able to install Duo Security easily in Android and iSO phones, also our clients and users could log in securely in their accounts. It offers comfortable prices in its plans. And it gives us alternatives to enter as text messages, pop-up messages, and phone calls.
  • Automatic notifications do not arrive instantaneously if the person who uses Duo does not have coverage on his cell phone or device.
  • The mobile application does not perform well. It would be nice if it could be improved. Also, it would be great to add more native apps. It would nice if users could lower the license usage count for the 90-day period provided.
  • Once 2FA authentication is enabled, it is difficult to have to deal with the situation where you lose your 2FA device. We have encouraged users to have backup codes so they can avoid too much pain should this scenario occur.
Duo has excellent support for third-party applications so we were able to implement it throughout our many disparate systems, on-premises, and cloud. I don't see any downsides, this is hands down the best 2-factor authentication app I have used.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
Duo / Cisco Secure Access, by Duo is our primary solution for managed service clients, as well as, our internal organization. The platform allows for central management of the application, integration with other cloud services for authentication, user device policies, and push notifications. We needed increased security within our organization, and Duo / Cisco Secure Access, by Duo was precisely what we needed.
  • Push notifications
  • Integration with multiple cloud services
  • Granular device policies
  • Support documentation
  • Learning curve for initial deployment
  • Occasionally push notifications do not appear
  • Organization of saved tokens
Duo / Cisco Secure Access, by Duo is well-suited for small to large businesses. We focus on the nonprofit and small business sectors and have found that this solution has met every need on the checklist. Organizations that are concerned about security gain peace of mind with a centrally managed console that provides insight into user installations, as well as, granular policies that can prevent usage on vulnerable devices.
Dave King | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Duo Security for our remote access workers. We implemented Duo to comply with our cybersecurity initiatives. We plan to utilize it for more of our Cloud based apps. Currently it is implemented on our VDI Environment.
  • Easy to deploy.
  • Easy to use.
  • Easy to manage.
  • Replacing a mobile device.
It is well suited in any company that required 2FA for their cybersecurity initiatives or within any company that is looking to make their remote access more secure.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We utilize Duo Secure Access for Multi-Factor Authentication to both our SSL VPN as well as remote access to servers, including RDP access to our Windows servers and SSH access to our Linux servers. One of the best things you can do to protect your organization is to implement MFA and Duo has satisfied that need.
  • The push notification in Duo Mobile makes it extremely easy to use MFA
  • The installation of the Duo Agent on all of our servers was quick and easy. There are even silent install commands so that they can be pushed out through your favorite deployment tool.
  • Duo is easy to set up and configure. You can add users or new devices on the fly as needed without hassle.
  • The one thing that is a little frustrating with Duo is that they do not have a Desktop app. You have to use the Duo Mobile app for authentication, which only works on Android or iOS.
  • It gets pretty expensive when you need to add a lot of users. It would be good if they could have some more discounts when you go above a certain number of licenses.
  • It doesn't work with any other authenticator, you must use the Duo Mobile app.
In my opinion Duo Secure Access is one of the best platforms out there for implementing multi-factor authentication to secure your environment. We evaluated several other products before deciding on Duo for MFA, and Duo was far above any other option in almost every category. The one scenario where it is not ideal is where you are unable to leverage the mobile app, such as if you cannot ask your employees to use their personal devices.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Cisco Duo is a core part of securing our business and ensuring our platforms stay that way.
  • Easy integrations with many of the application or devices used in our business
  • Easy integrations with our monitoring platforms
  • Am evolving product that only gets better
  • Users with secondary usernames only display primary on logs and not username used to authenticate
Cisco Duo will fit any business and has too many integration options to mention.
December 06, 2023

Cisco Duo review

Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Cisco Duo is utilized by System Administrators of the the Pilatus Pilot Training System environment, providing 2FA when logging into servers with an Administrator Account. When an admin enters their credentials to authenticate to a server, the Cisco Duo app on the phone prompts the user to validate for approval before providing access to the server.
  • Multi Factor Authentication
  • Logging of authentication attempts by an Administrator
  • If a user password is known there is still potential to compromise the users credentials if a phone is stolen. This poses an additional security risk.
As I work in the Defence industry on primarily airgapped environments, Cisco Duo may not be appropriate for 2FA solution. It is suitable for an environment which has an internet connection.
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